Planning to go to Scandinavia some time in the future? (1 Viewer)

[Viennese]

If so, please sign the petition started by this group trying to get you a shorter journey - Reopen Harwich to Esberg Ferry. 11,000 have already signed it.

 

[CazPaul]

Interesting, just out of curiosity, where does the petition go to, who gets it?

If a ferry company thinks they can make a profit they would open it up, its a great idea but would it be loss making?

 

[Speve]

Sooner have a tunnel built?

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[big map]

Sooner have a tunnel built?

Alan don’t be silly that would be a frigging long tunnel.

 

[Speve]

Alan don’t be silly that would be a frigging long tunnel.

Yes but I would sooner use channel tunnel and drive from Calais than go on a North Sea ferry

 

[Wully]

The Esbjerg ferry still runs..but is ‘commercial’ only. I looked at taking my van ( ie, window van I can kip in)over last July but was quoted £750 one way...
It stopped taking non commercial traffic as it is so polluting it infringed some environmental standards that somehow don’t apply to commercial freight and that plus the competition from Ryan Air Billund flights made it uneconomic to replace with a new ferry.

Allegedly , according to people I worked with in Esbjerg...

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[Bailey58]

I think the originator, George Moore, aimed the petition at the ferry companies in particular or anyone who would listen. 11000+ signatures looks good but the last year it sailed passenger numbers dropped from some 84000 to 69000 so only another 70k signatures to go. The 11k though is useful when quoting figures to the media.

The Sirena Seaways ferry was pulled from Harwich to Esbjerg in 2014 because of falling passenger numbers, low cost flights and environmental issues as claimed by their CEO, oft repeated by the numerous online statements on their media pages when fending off queries from RHEG members. All good reasons but the lucrative ARK Project funded by various European governments helped cushion the blow, or made the decision for them depending on your viewpoint. Sirena then went onto a Baltic route which was outside the emissions zone, later fitted with scrubbers and now leased to Brittany Ferries as Baie de Seine sailing out of Portsmouth.

The Immingham routes were closed to tourist passengers as the UK Border Force no longer permit fare paying passengers to be carried through the port.

Here's the petition.

 

[Viennese]

I hope some of you have signed the petition! If so, thank you - I should like to go to Scandinavia!!

 

[Wully]

It’s a fairly long drive from Holland which is the only way I’ve gone - to Denmark then Sweden and Norway.

But you could go east and take a ferry over the Baltic from Lithuania or maybe Estonia?

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[BamBam]

Isn't there a crossing from Newcastle?

 

[Bailey58]

Isn't there a crossing from Newcastle?

There is to Amsterdam but it's long gone if you mean direct to Scandinavia.

 

[Bailey58]

The RHEG petition doubled in numbers in the past six months from 6000 to 12000. That and the group numbers always jump when there is a bit of publicity. We've had a couple of articles in the Harwich press and there has been a lot of media attention in Denmark. The farce that is Brexit has slowed down recent activities as the return of duty free was a positive factor in sowing the seeds of trialling a return of the crossing. Since gathering more information from the Danish side, whilst falling passenger numbers was the headline reason, DFDS brought much of that upon themselves by dropping the number of crossings, using smaller less attractive ships and lowering the standards of the onboard facilities. Our own government might have used the freight contracts to persuade DFDS to include a passenger sailing from Harwich to take some of the traffic away from the channel ports where some 81% goes through Dover and Folkestone. It may be environmental issues that bring back the route eventually but it may not be soon enough for me.

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[Paddywack]

We're in Denmark currently having taken the Newcastle ferry, as we live in the North East it's a good link which we use regularly to visit relatives. After arrival at Amsterdam we do the obligatory stop at Obelink and then drive up, if you're not delayed around Hamburg then buy a lottery ticket, sometimes it's better to get the little ferry to Glückstadt. Other than that Danish border in a day.

Sites are good

 

[Bailey58]

Long time since I've seen this thread but yes, many of us use the Wischhafen/Gluckstadt ferry to avoid Hamburg. I did that journey from the Hook to Hirtshals twice last year, first in the van to Norway and 3 weeks after coming went back in the car to the Faroes.

The Facebook group now has a website, the Danish option is still under construction because of a glitch but the site may reach more than the Facebook group.

https://www.reopen-the-harwich-to-esbjerg-ferry-group.com/

 

[CazPaul]

Long time since I've seen this thread but yes, many of us use the Wischhafen/Gluckstadt ferry to avoid Hamburg. I did that journey from the Hook to Hirtshals twice last year, first in the van to Norway and 3 weeks after coming went back in the car to the Faroes.

The Facebook group now has a website, the Danish option is still under construction because of a glitch but the site may reach more than the Facebook group.

https://www.reopen-the-harwich-to-esbjerg-ferry-group.com/

How much was it please for the motorhome from the Hook return.

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[Bailey58]

Sorry artistic licence rather than going into long explanations on our routes! We actually used the tunnel and returned with DFDS from Dunkirk with the van as we could stop en route and take our time. We always use Harwich/Hook in the car to Hirtshals stopping in Kolding en route. We pay around £325 or so overnight with Stena but it's easy enough to check van prices online.

 

[WESTY66]

How much was it please for the motorhome from the Hook return.

If you do the day sailings without buying a cabin it can be had for as little as £176 return, as was ours in June.